PPCRV releases 10-point voting guide

These are part of the 10-point guidelines released by a Church-based poll watchdog group this week, in time for the May 13 elections.

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting said the guidelines, dubbed “The 10 Commandments for Responsible Voting,” should help voters choose deserving candidates.

“It’s not about size, your size ... big or small, XL or XXL. It’s about your importance, your power as a voter. It is only during elections when you exercise your right and responsibility to vote that indeed you are Pinoy Big Voter! Beholden to none but your conscience, your country and your God,” said PPCRV chairperson Henrietta de Villa, in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines news site.

“We see it as imperative to make alive our PPCRV vision of CHAMP – Clean, Honest, Accurate, Meaningful, and Peaceful – elections as a first step towards such restoration,” she added.

The guidelines are contained in the PPCRV-prepared education manual titled “Pinoy Big Voter,” which also contains the Church’s social teachings.

It also includes the CBCP’s pastoral statements on elections, along with information about the automated election system.

According to the CBCP, the 10 Commandments for Responsible Voting include:

Vote according to the dictates of your conscience.

Respect the decision of others in choosing their candidates.

Seek to know the moral integrity, capabilities, and other personal qualities of the candidates you will vote for.

Strive to understand the issues, platform, and programs of candidates and parties campaigning for your vote.

Do not sell your vote.

Do not vote for candidates using guns, goons, gold, and glitter.

Do not vote for candidates tainted with graft and corruption.

Do not vote for candidates simply because of “utang na loob,” popularity, good looks, or pakikisama.

Do not vote for candidates living an immoral life.

Always put the welfare of the country as top priority in choosing the candidate you will vote for.